THE Tembari Children's Care (TCC) Inc is a day care facility at ATS Oro Settlement, 7-Mile, outside of Port Moresby, PNG. To date, it takes care of more than 200 former street children - orphans, abandoned and the unfortunate - by serving them meals twice a day, and providing them early education. Assistance - food and money - is sent by supporters who find merit in the services we provide to these children. At The Center, they are family. For all of these, we need support that is sustainable.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

How to sponsor milk for Tembari kids

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZA Friend of Tembari children

A SIGNIFICANT foodstuff delivery arrived at The Center finally last Thursday.

It was the first of the monthly supply of foodstuff pledged by an anonymous executive at RH (PNG) Group comprising 16 bags of 10kg rice and 85 liters of fresh milk.

Yes! Fresh milk.

With the milk supply, the 83 kids would be served a glass of the complete liquid food during a special feeding session every Saturday.

Actually, the kids have already started getting milk since two weeks ago, courtesy of an American in California, who sent several kilos of powder milk through American air hostess Diane McLea who was at The Center two weeks ago.

My goal is to see them have milk as often as they could – and not only every Saturday.

I want to see them drink milk everyday – which is a costly exercise for The Center, but otherwise peanuts to others.

The milk provided by our generous friend at RH Group will cover four days (four Saturdays) of milk drinking, consuming 21 liters per day, with four kids sharing a liter (250ml per glass).

Under the schedule I proposed to our benefactor, the children will be served each a glass of milk every Saturday; this amounts to 84-85 liters consumed in four Saturdays of the month.

Well, that’s the volume of milk supply I personally requested from our benefactor – and he generously obliged to provide, with TLC (tender loving care), based on the number of kids registered with The Center to date.

Had I asked for more, perhaps he could have delivered just the same without second thoughts.

But my idea is to spread the PLEASURE and OPPORTUNITY of serving the kids among other kind-hearted individuals, however indirect the gesture would seem.

The good news is that they would be serving the kids through me and the dedicated volunteer mothers who are present at The Center every day, looking after their food needs.

I am certain would-be donors have long-wanted to help the needy like our kids, but there is just no opportunity for them to do so.

Now, I am giving them this opportunity, and this opportunity has decided not to go away for it could wait for any generous takers however long the wait is drawn out.

A prospective donor has three (3) bundles to choose from:

1) Sponsorship for the entire week (five weekdays, from Monday to Friday) for only K383 (105 liters at K3.65 per liter);

2) Sponsorship for four weekdays, meaning he could pay for the milk to be served every Monday, or every Tuesday and so forth, at a cost of K310 (84 liters at K3.65 per liter); or

3) Sponsorship for one day for only K76.75 (21 liters at K3.65 per liter)

I wish for more people who could help The Center in its milk program, which aims to serve a glass of milk everyday to every Tembari kid.

I think this is the way it should be. This is another way to boost their health.

Many of our kids are not in good state of health after long periods that they had missed meals for most of the time, like breakfast and lunch.

SUDDENLY, this litany brings to mind the need for me to find somebody who could lead me to someone who could organize a group of at least two GP physicians, two nurses and two pharmacists, along with a lot of medical and drugs and healthcare supplies, for a medical mission to The Center.

I am certain most of our kids have not seen a doctor in a long while, or not at all.

THE BLOGGER

ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ, A Friend of Tembari Children. Blogger APH came to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in 1993 to join The National newspaper as one of its pioneering journalists. Working as Executive Sub Editor, he has remained with the daily, now the country’s No. 1 newspaper, up to these days. He has been a journalist since his university days in Manila back in the late 60s. APH’s involvement with the Tembari children began in January 2010 after he discovered them at a Christmas party for the city’s 500 unfortunate children held at the Botanical Garden in Port Moresby. That day, he was chasing a story for The National, which happened to be that of the unfortunate children in the city. His self-appointed job for Tembari children composed of orphaned, abandoned, neglected and unfortunate children is to look for people and groups who could provide them food, money, health services and facilities necessary to create positive changes in their lives. This job is difficult, but what the heck …!

(Our sponsored Saturday lunch for the 200 Tembari kids costs only K250.00 per sponsor (we usually have two), which covers a special meat (fish or chicken) dish, veggies, steamed rice and cordial drink. The Saturday lunch needs at least two sponsors. Some had given more, allowing us to give the kids a generous heap of the day’s lunch. A rare bonus to the sponsors, along with the bricks they earn each time, is that I personally cook the dish, giving it a personal touch. And as they earn a brick, each of our benefactors also earn a passage into the heart of the Tembari kids, which is also a prepaid ticket to Heaven.)